I’d like to call your attention to an editing tool for the editing of redundant words and redundant word phrases that turn up in rough drafts and not-so-rough drafts (what?). Why is this important? First, good writing is concise. Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” When someone writes past experience, fatally killed, foreign…
Month: November 2013
Marvel Comics and Film Noir - What They Taught Me About Writing
I knew early what I didn’t want to read. Though I longed for adventure my mother bought me all the usual little girl comics/magazines containing stories about ballerinas in pink tutus, owning a pony, or cute puppies and donkeys. Even at such a tender age I didn’t care for them. I’d rather be out climbing…
Shaking Hands with My Characters: The Physicality of Writing
I hear a voice in my head. She begins speaking when I’m walking, taking a shower, or trying to sleep. She starts to tell me her story. I sit at the computer screen and hope to capture the story, but nothing happens. I’m not blocked exactly. It’s just that she doesn’t want to speak through…
Fiction Writing: Subtext, the Story Within the Story
Something that is often missing in stories, particularly short stories and flash fiction, is subtext. A quick search on subtext revealed a lot of posts on dialog and setting and how to use them to imply what is not expressly written. For this post, I’m taking it a little larger in the sense of looking…
Print-Making with a Rolling Mill
GUEST FEATURE by Gunilla Redelius of http://galeriaredelius.wordpress.com As a jewelry maker, my rolling mill is one of my major investments, in tools and equipment, and I love it! It allows me to press metal sheets into whatever dimensions I want. You can also create patterns on metal. For example, I can take a pattern on copper then…
On Writing: Become a Master Editor by Practicing E-Prime
GUEST FEATURE by Shanan at: http://www.theprocrastiwriter.com Don’t let bad editing happen to you. Because writers get so close to their work, self-editing (a critical step whether you plan to self-publish or seek out a traditional publishing arrangement) can become an obstacle to success. However, applying the principles of E-Prime to your writing is a great way…